Sound like you had the same experience as I did on my first ride on my E9. What I found was that the stopper had been set far to low and hence the de-power range on the bar was just about 30 cm so I had the feeling of kiten with an old c-kite from early 05. Had to edge like mad to control the kite. I did finally just get ridd of the stopper altogether to get something like a "normal" sheeting range, now the kite was completely controlable and nice, realy nice infact.

If you get a chance to try it again, possibly with another bar, let us know how it turns out.

As you has stated you have a Naish Cult and in my experience these kites are possibly the best kites ever made for gusty horrible winds. I did have a Naish 14 m Helix, and boy was that a kite that could handle gusty overpowered riding .

I just have to say that the Element 13 and Element 9 are realy good, allround kites but are a bit put down by the bar system (mostly the stopper) that I believe need som work.

The Element appears to be a very nice kite and has the appearance of a RPM/Park. I have never tried these kites but I can say that I am definitely intrigued by them. The price point is a huge factor and that can make all the difference for most people. It is nice to buy two kite for the price of one!

i had the same depower problem with the Nitro...just not enough throw in the bar to depower when you need it. i use it on an old Wainman bar now and it's much better. and the bar pressure is less, too. that Switch bar hurt my hands as well after a short time period. the Switch bar just ain't my cup of tea.

esg wrote:And the kite felt super jerky. It did not handle gusts well at all in my opinion. You couldn't just sheet-out to deal with the gusts. It just yanked you and you'd have to edge hard and bring your kite up to 11 or 12 to not get blasted downwind.

In my opinion, it just did not have enough depower. Whether it was the kite itself, or the amount of bar-throw on the center lines. You just could not depower enough when you needed it.

Dude I guarantee is the same thing that happened to me. To come find out that the stopper was set half way down, so I only really had half the depower on my Methods, I kept thinking, what the heck are these people talking about great depower, great depower my a$$, and on the switch kites forum, they explained how to work the stopper and ball.

I'd say try it again. they do have great depower. Just like most kite on the market.

One tiny thing to note, and this is really stupid, but to be aware of, is that I'm not sure why or what causes this, but the white fabric get a bit stained if you roll up the kite with the slightest moisture. EVERY SINGLE switch kite I've seen so far has this issue. But so fat, doesn't affect the performance of the fabric.

esg wrote:I got a chance to demo a 7m Element yesterday. Winds were probably 25-35. I'm 210 pounds. So this is typical 7m conditions for me.
And the kite felt super jerky. It did not handle gusts well at all in my opinion. You couldn't just sheet-out to deal with the gusts. It just yanked you and you'd have to edge hard and bring your kite up to 11 or 12 to not get blasted downwind.

In my opinion, it just did not have enough depower. Whether it was the kite itself, or the amount of bar-throw on the center lines. You just could not depower enough when you needed it. For example, landing from big, lit-up jumps. Or doing turns. Bottom-turn type turns and off the lip( top turns). In all these scenerios, if the wind was strong, you couldn't depower enough for a smooth landing or turn. And you'd get totally pulled downind until you edged and brought the kite up.

I'm wondering if the bar throw was set up really powered - when you depowered the bar was the kite anywhere close to luffing? The bar throw distance is adjustable (shortens the depower line length). I don't have any issues with the depowering my elements (have had many different brands/models in the past), and I have the bar throw set a little longer than stock since I have fairly long arms. Pulling the depower trim in all the way with the bar out will get you to wind-edge luffing/stalling with almost no power from the kite. Unless of course the center lines were stretched or the rear lines had been hiked up the leader lines on the adjustment knots.

Since the wind was cranking with the kite that powered it would sit back in the window a fair bit and really pull, perhaps that is what happened bc with your weight and wind you shouldn't be overpowered on that kite size.

I asked the team-rider who I had borrowed the kite from about the stopper-ball, and was told that it could have maybe been moved up another inch at most(because of the clam-cleat). Which would have made little difference.

I don't know. I'll take it for another spin if I ever get the opportunity and see if it feels any different.

Basically the Switch bar is one of the only bars that is adjustable for any rider big or small recently I had a girl who wanted to demo my 9 Element but she said the bar was to far away so I told her to land the kite I simply adjusted the regulator for her arm length I think it took 3 min see vid http://youtu.be/ig91OwiLUDE also there is a screw on the white stopper that u can loosen so it moves freely all the way up to the regulator hope this helps
Also you can find a lot of informative videos on Switchkites TV on YouTube

The reason I Switched is because I work hard for my $$$ I could not justify spending 2K on one kite & bar! With Switch you can spend that & get 2 kites & 1 bar

esg wrote:Yes, I had the depower rope pulled to the max.
I asked the team-rider who I had borrowed the kite from about the stopper-ball, and was told that it could have maybe been moved up another inch at most(because of the clam-cleat). Which would have made little difference.

You can also move the cleat (regulator) if your arm each is long enough. Ask the team-rider if he is using factory set up on back lines pigtails. some of us add a knot closer to the tip to get more direct and "gruntier" feel on the bar.

Just received email from switch introducing element 15.Has anyone flown this size?How does it compare with other kites this size?Been casually looking for a lighter wind kite and wondering if this would work for a 220 lb on a 145x47 board.Biggest kite now is a 12 screamer. Price was similiar to other brands 1-2 years old. Thanks